Reboot
by Emilie Blaeu
Summary: 5 years ago Rose was KIA, but then she reawoke as something stronger, faster, not completely dhampir, not completely strigoi. With Lissa as queen, and the Royal Court facing a Coup d'état, Rose must return to save those she loves, and face her past, whether she's ready to or not. First Preview Chapter is posted to see if there's any interest for this type of story! T for now.


**Author's Note:**

**Trying something that's been festering in my little mind for quite some time now, something that I know is a little outside of the box. I do not plan to make this a Mary Sue story, there will be some romance, a lot of drama, and the protagonist will have to go through a lot of struggles. I am hopeful this draws some interest, and if it does I have plans to make this into a full story. This is simply a preview. Please let me know your thoughts and opinions. If this does make through to a full-length story, I'd like to know your views as a reader and things you would like to see happen. I am also looking for a beta-reader. I'm pretty good with spell-check and grammar, but a second set of eyes is always greatly appreciated.**

**Thanks all, hope you enjoy!**

Rose POV

5 years ago, I was taken from everything I had ever known. My life was flipped upside down, and my knowledge and belief of what was, was completely and utterly dismantled.

Before I was taken, my life was at its best. Lissa had been bestowed the crown, Dmitri and I had made amends and were moving forward with our relationship, and my prestige as a guardian was increasing by the day. The Molnija marks that lined my neck and back were plentiful. My Zvezda mark sat in the middle next to my Promise mark proudly. I was finally making a name for myself other than the trouble-making rebel from the Academy.

That all changed when the royal caravan was ambushed on the trek back from Lehigh University. Strigoi were partnered with humans. There was still sunlight, which would normally deter any strigoi without a death wish from rearing his ugly face, however that day it was different. The sky clouded over with the blackest clouds I'd ever seen. The sun within minutes was completely obscured, and the caravan was attacked. Never before had I seen such a gathering of strigoi.

The humans working with them worked as distractions, a fog of bodies to confuse the guardians who was what. It worked well enough to allow the strigoi to take an upper hand. Our priority was to protect the moroi, specifically the queen at all costs, no matter the consequence to ourselves, if it meant we died then we died with honor. The royal guard executed their jobs flawlessly, impaling strigoi after strigoi. The numbers seemed to be diminishing and then another wave would wash over the caravan.

An opportunity arose and two guardians we able to secure one armored van and drive the queen to safety. Relief washed over me knowing my charge, and my best friend was safe. It seemed we were winning when suddenly I felt a searing pain explode from my right shoulder. I had been shot by a human. While it would not kill me itself, it shocked me enough, and the pain caused me to drop to the floor. That window of weakness was quickly taken advantage of as three strigoi piled on top of me, and bit in, hard. Soon enough the endorphins from their bite took effect and I left the battlefield, and floated.

I was drained that day, bloodied and broken, and more importantly, dead. I did not expect to wake up the next day with a heartbeat. I was in a lab, stripped naked with wires strapped all over. Hands, ankles, midsection, and neck strapped to the metal examination table. There were doctors in lab coats observing me.

I woke up different than I was before. I was able to notice the slightest bead of sweat beading on the scientist's forehead as I let out an animalistic scream, demanding to know what was going on. I could literally smell the fear they emitted. I could hear them drawing up the sedative in their syringe, and I could feel their footsteps through my bones.

I learned many things that day. I learned that I was no longer a dhampir, but not a strigoi. I was something in between. I was a whole new species, the first of my kind. I did not know how I ended up at this laboratory from the battlefield, or how they knew what it was I would become. I did know that nothing was ever going to be the same way it had been. They ran many tests on me daily, pushed my limits, explored my abilities both physical, and mental. They decided that while my body had changed to that of a strigoi, my mind maintained that of a dhampir, both with some of each mixed in.

Looking in a mirror I could see the stark appearance of a strigoi monster I had been raised and trained to hate and eliminate, with the softness of a dhampir still present. My eyes now had a harsh red ring around them, but they lacked the malice of a strigoi. My skin paled some few shades, but I maintained my figure, and my skin tone was not that of a sheet of paper, just more fair; more European complexion. I had grown a couple of inches, but was still nowhere near towering like the moroi I guarded. I now possessed fangs, however did not possess the cravings of blood, nor the desire, however still the need. Instead I was given an IV. I could run, jump, fight, swim, and outperform any strigoi I had come across, yet still had the logic, personality, and thought process of me.

I was lethal. So they trained me. They had me eliminate many strigoi, turned me into the ultimate guardian. It came at a price I fear, I lost many of my emotional capacity, lost the drive to protect that I had prior. Lost the 'spark' as the referred to it. I gained all the power any guardian could ever dream of, but lost the desire to do what I was designed to. It wasn't just guarding that disinterested me, it was life in general. My life now lacked meaning, lacked any form of familiarity, and in that I lost myself. It took some time to find that again. To this day I still struggle to muster the emotion within. I follow orders without question because that is something I find familiar to my last life, order. I found myself missing my old life terribly, craving it like an addict in withdraw. I begged and pleaded for them to let me return. They said they could not. Not until they were sure they knew everything about this new 'me' It would take 5 years for them to finally feel confident enough to reintroduce me to the world.

A long time had passed, old wounds had healed, and the world had long since moved on. I felt as though I was going to burden my old friends and family with my presence, and I hesitated. I waited for months after, unable to upset their new way of coping, unable to upset their life without Rose Hathaway. It seemed too cruel to do this to them now. After all they had gone through. Finally my choice was made up for me. The people who had controlled my life for the past 5 years had become mentors of sorts. They too had altered their lives to fit mine, to work on 'figuring me out' to train me. They alerted me of a coup to the crown. It was my time to make an appearance, or risk losing my old life entirely, forever.

That brings me to now, as I travel to the Moroi Court to save the queen's life. We were stopped at the gates by dhampir security; completely oblivious to the threat they held in their own walls, nor the weapon they were allowing to pass their gates. I was given four 'guards' which was a fancy way of saying, my four zoo keepers. Each equipped with syringes of sedative for the 'just in case' scenarios. I was cloaked in a robe with a hood drawn well over my face. We were checked in to a hotel near the palace. A meeting was set with the queen herself to introduce me, and to hopefully prevent the coup d'état tomorrow morning.

So for tonight we were allowed to rest. I couldn't sleep, knowing that mere meters away lay my best friend, my old charge, likely my old lover, and my entire old life, completely oblivious to my presence, even my existence. I finally gave up the quest of slumber to wander to the cemetery. It was high noon or the middle of the night for the Moroi, so very few were out, and it was easy enough to hide myself in jeans and a hoodie without arising suspicion. I went to the memorial for the KIA dhampir, and found my name etched in the cold grey marble. It chilled me to the bone, and I nearly broke down. How could I possibly do this to them again? After so long, how could I reopen such wounds? I left briskly, having regretted taking such a field trip in the first place to head back to the hotel room, never noticing the looming figure entering the cemetery the same way I was leaving, my face hidden, fixed on the cement below my shoes.


End file.
